Self-determination theory (SDT) postulates that environments providing psychological needs satisfaction (PNS) promote quality motivation, thus enhancing engagement and performance in diverse performance domains. SDT and PNS were used to investigate student experience of conservatoire instrument practice. Participants (N = 162) completed standardized self-report questionnaires. Associations between study variables were described and hierarchical multiple regression analysis was conducted to assess the predictive effects of autonomy and competence needs satisfaction and autonomous and controlled motivation on inter-subject flow variations. A considerable part of flow variations was accounted for by study variables. Results showed that conservatoire students, especially those studying instrument performance (n = 109), reported high levels of flow, perceived competence and autonomy, and intrinsic motivation. Autonomous motivation had a direct effect on flow variations, whereas controlled motivation had an inverse effect. Perceived competence was the strongest predictor of flow variations and it was also associated with external regulation (especially among students studying instrument performance), thus indicating that intrinsic and extrinsic motives both play important roles in conservatoire instrument practice. Conservatoire instrument teachers need to acknowledge that perceived competence is critical to flow in instrument practice, in order to provide their students with optimal challenges that avoid frustration and amotivation.

Students’ autonomous self-regulation requires not only self-motivation but also volition or transforming motivation into specific behavioral intentions and following through. Self-regulation includes self-motivation (i.e., goal setting, learning from mistakes) and volitional regulation (i.e., strategic decision making). Furthermore, individual differences, like trait-level perseverance, significantly influence both motivation and volition. Procrastination has been defined as a volitional self-regulation problem, which involves delaying what one had intended to do, in spite of being motivated, and regardless of anticipating adverse consequences. Thus, it is a tendency toward dysregulated behavior - which may stabilize with age - in which subpar self-regulation may lead to procrastination. As a form of dysregulation, procrastination adversely affects young people’s autonomy and well-being by limiting their personal growth. Previous research has confirmed a negative relationship between self-regulation and procrastination. However, more precision is demanded in: (a) examining the intertwined roles of motivational and volitional aspects of self-regulation for procrastination, and (b) distinguishing between different medium, and between medium and high levels of self-regulation. Consequently, it has been suggested that this could be accomplished by means of person-centered analyses, aimed at identifying distinct naturally occurring students’ self-regulation profiles. These profiles would inform differentiated pedagogical approaches to promote self-regulation strategies counteracting procrastination tendencies. We used cluster analysis to identify academic self-regulation profiles and analyze their relationships with procrastination. Participants were 994 young university students from one public and one private university in Catalonia (41.0% men, 58.4% women, and 0.5% non-binary gender). Their age ranged from 18 to 24 years (M = 19.69, SD = 1.41). Sampling method was intentional, with proportional quotas by sex, academic year, and area of knowledge. The instrument used for data collection incorporated the Short Spanish Self-Regulation Questionnaire (SSSRQ), which includes four dimensions: perseverance, learning from mistakes, goal setting, and decision making; and the Pure Procrastination Scale (PPS), which considers three dimensions: decisional procrastination, implemental delay and lateness. Results obtained by means of cluster analysis distinguished between high and low academic self-regulation profiles, and also between these and two different medium self-regulation profiles, each with specific emphases on particular volitional shortcomings (i.e., weaknesses in decision-making skills and perseverance). These profiles and their relations with procrastination dimensions allow a joint evaluation via structural equation modeling (SEM) to test cognitive motivational strategies (goal setting, decision making, learning from mistakes, and decisional procrastination) together with behavioral aspects (perseverance, implemental delay), considered in the constructs of academic self-regulation and pure procrastination. From this joint evaluation, guidelines are suggested for promoting autonomy among young university students to the detriment of procrastination, thereby – and in accordance with previous research – enhancing students’ well-being and growth.

Procrastination is a complex problem that can be defined as delaying an intended course of action (despite anticipating adverse consequences). Even when some students have equivalent motivation and skill levels, they tend to procrastinate more frequently than others. Approaches that analyze whether contextual influences may prevent or promote dysregulation processes associated with procrastination are scarce. According to Self-Determination Theory, contextual influences can facilitate self-regulated motivation (e.g., autonomous pursuit of interests or personal goals), if teaching style is autonomy-supportive and guarantees the satisfaction of students’ basic psychological needs for perceived competence, autonomy, and relatedness. Contrariwise, school context can also impede the development of autonomous motivation if teachers frustrate the satisfaction of their students’ psychological needs by recurring to controlling teaching behaviors, such as controlling use of rewards, negative conditional regard, excessive personal control, or intimidation. The goal of the present study was to assess the relations between controlling and autonomy-supportive teaching behaviors, psychological needs satisfaction (of the needs for competence, autonomy, and relatedness), and four distinct measures of procrastination: general procrastination, decisional procrastination, procrastination linked to task avoidance, and pure procrastination. Data based on public university undergraduate students (N = 672) shows that controlling teaching behaviors are associated negatively with psychological needs satisfaction and positively with procrastination. Contrariwise, autonomy-supportive teaching behaviors are positively associated with psychological needs satisfaction and negatively with procrastination. The data obtained is useful for suggesting new lines of research to study the link between contextual influences and the prevention of academic procrastination in view of Self-Determination Theory. Also, our results suggest new pedagogical approaches where teachers can create contextual conditions that help to prevent or reduce procrastinating tendencies.

Faced with the demonstrated need to engage in physical activity (PA), lack of time is the argument commonly used to justify low or non-existent levels of PA. Underlying this argument, the accomplishment of procrastination behaviour seems to be related to the less time dedicated to practicing PA and the low perception of the quality of life. With this in mind, the purpose of this study is to show that dedicating different amounts of time to PA affects the perceived quality of life and the widespread problem of procrastination. We hypothesise that greater time investment in PA is related to greater perceived quality of life and less procrastination. In all, 621 practitioners of PA (347 men, 274 women) between 18 and 83 years old (M = 35.43, SD = 14.45) filled out validated versions of the World Health Organization quality of life assessment (WHOQOL-BREF) and the Pure Procrastination Scale. Results showed that people who do enough PA have a more positive perception of the quality of life in the domains of physical and psychological health; this perception, in turn, is related to lower levels of procrastination. Likewise, socio-demographic characteristics such as gender and the main activity presented significant associations with various quality of life domains and procrastination. In sum, the benefits of improvements in quality of life and reductions in procrastination identified in this study are sensitive to the time spent on PA, which suggests that a strategy to promote the practice of PA would improve time management and, thus, counteract procrastination.

Based on Bourdieu's idea that cultural capital is strongly related to family context, we describe the relations between family musical cultural capital and optimal experience during compulsory primary school musical practice. We analyse whether children from families with higher levels of musical cultural capital, and specifically with regard to active engagement in musical practice, obtain more optimal experience from primary school musical practice than their peers, thus improving their chances of sustained engagement in musical practice in their personal lives. We draw from Csikszentmihalyi's theory of flow to better understand how intrinsic motivation and absorption can foster children's perseverance in musical practice and the consequent acquisition of new, relevant musical cultural capital. Results based on a sample of 186 pupils suggest that, in order to optimise the impact on the development of new musical cultural capital, state educational syllabuses should harness the dynamics of the diverse family contexts.

Procrastination is a delay in an intended course of action and, thus, a self‐regulation failure hindering growth and well‐being. Contrarily, self‐regulation is a set of cognitive and metacognitive skills and strategies supporting goal‐directed behavior. There is ongoing discussion regarding the extent to which (and the ways in which) promoting self‐regulation may counteract procrastination. On the one hand, it is argued that procrastination is linked with stable personal dispositions; on the other hand, it is said that this problematic behavior is associated with contextual influences. To deepen the understanding of these relationships, we used structural equation modeling (SEM) to test a theory‐driven model integrating four self‐regulation factors (goal setting, decision making, persevering, and learning from mistakes) and two measures of procrastination (irrational and academic). We hypothesized that goal setting, decision making, and perseverance would sequentially mediate between learning from mistakes and procrastination outcomes, thus, suggesting that cognitive‐motivational (learning from mistakes, goal setting), strategic (decision making), and volitional (perseverance) factors may all be necessary for successful self‐regulation, which could potentially be promoted by contextual influences. Participants of the present study were 433 Chilean university students (304 women, 129 men, M = 20.74 years, SD = 2.86) who completed measures for procrastination and self‐regulation. Findings support the important roles of goal setting and perseverance for successful self‐regulation and suggest that goal setting may mediate the effects of learning from mistakes on perseverance and decision making; whereas perseverance may mediate the effects of goal setting and decision making on procrastination variations. These results suggest that the negative effects of motivational and strategic factors of self‐regulation on procrastination may depend at least partly on the abilities to improve goals and persevere. Taking into account these critical roles in dealing with procrastination, it seems appropriate to support college students' self‐regulation skills and strategies, raising awareness about the indispensability of adequate goal setting and persistence in following through with intended courses of action.